Tornado week / ipads / pony meat for dinner / and thanks

(Time-line context: this blog was written last week on a drive so a lot has happened since then)

Hi.

Jack here. I'm writing you from the van somewhere between Phoenix and Austin. So, basically.....middle earth! Even more noteworthy, I'm writing you on an iPad that I just bought. Yep, impulsive and unnecessary tour purchase # 1. Next week I'll likely buy a pony and then have no money to eat with when I get home.  Don't worry, I'll starve to death before I eat the pony. One annoying thing about this iPad is I can't figure out how to take off the auto-capitalize feature. I usually like writing with no caps at all and little punctuation. It leaves way more to the imagination, but it looks like those days may be over with this god damn IPAD!!!!!!!!!

Moving on-
Last week was a fucking tornado. A wonderful one. Filled with excitement / confusion / beautiful weather / friends / reviews / and most importantly the release of our new record. It's funny, for months now I've been a crazy person leading up to this release. Now that it's out I feel like I'm floating from above watching it all happen. Not sure exactly what I mean by that. But the feeling is very specific.....

I need to say thank you..... to you. We are a completely independent band who has put out this record by ourselves, and you all have supported us so kindly by going out and buying this and coming out to the shows. It humbles me to the core. I could have never imagined the magnitude of emotional connection that self releasing would bring to this process. The past week has been nothing short of history for us. Your reactions to this record absolutely thrill us, and sharing it all with us is a pleasure. Last night in Phoenix we all sat in this closet of a backstage signing like a thousand CDs and 7-inches for the pre order packages. It was the 5 of us, our manager Marc, and my parents. It was 5 minutes before the set when we finished, had a toast to the past week and then walked out to 'Tomorrow' from the musical Annie. It was an amazing show! God Phoenix, you always make us feel like a million bucks. It was one of my favorite nights in a very long time. There was nowhere else in the world I wanted to be. One of those 'seeing the long road ahead but still feeling supported and truly not alone' kind of moments. I have all of you to thank for that. These shows on this tour have been magical for us. I feel an excitement pulling up to every venue that rivals general childhood Halloween feelings. So, thanks for that. .... So, it's on to release week number 2. Austin, Dallas, Orlando, Atlanta and Nashville! Thanks again for buying our record - and keep it up! And check out all the cool vinyl at www.steeltrain.net and the different exclusive tracks at iTunes and Amazon. ... Remember, I warned you it would all be over the top. Fireworks.        

Ok, Jon just put on Ace of Base and there's talk of a lunch stop, so this would be the moment to sign off.  

Bye.
Sending love.
Jack
(and his iPad in all its glory and shame)

P.s. Ace of Base is so good. It's La Roux before La Roux and ABBA after ABBA. But for someone reason AOB got the shitty end of the stick. They'd be way hip now or then if you think about it, just not in the 90s. When I hear them I feel like I'm at Jonathan Goldberg’s bar mitzvah in 1996, talking to my friends about how much Pinkerton was a disappointment. God, how lost were we then. Maybe if I understood Pinkerton then I would have also been cool enough to hook up with girls and then ipso facto would have had grown up with some sense of inflated confidence and be crippled as an adult.